Position: Provincial Lead, Indigenous Research & Evidence Integration

Location: Oahas office
based in Barrie, ON

Reports To: Oahas, Executive Director

Position Type: Full-time, (contract term)

Salary Range: $70, 000 - $75, 000 + benefits

Context

The Ontario Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Strategy (Oahas) is an Indigenous-led organization committed to promoting and supporting healthy, thriving Indigenous communities through providing culturally grounded education and access to harm reduction to reduce the transmission of HIV and other STBBIs in our communities. Oahas operates based on the principles of Greater Involvement of People living with HIV/AIDS (GIPA), Meaningful Engagement of People living with HIV/AIDS (MEPA), nothing about us without us from Indigenous harm reduction, and respect for our cultural knowledges and teachings. These foundational principles guide all aspects of our relationships and work.

For this position, Oahas has partnered with the Ontario
HIV Treatment Network (OHTN), a non-profit organization with a mission to improve the health and lives of people living with and at risk of HIV by using data and evidence to drive change. The OHTN works to influence decision-making at all levelspersonal, clinical, organizational and policy in collaboration with partners to gather and analyze data, conduct targeted high-impact research and support the use of the best available data and evidence. OHTN works with three main types of partners: 1) testing programs and clinics; 2) AIDS service and other community-based organizations; and 3) policy and system leaders within and beyond the health sector.

Organizational Values

Oahas organizational values are
Autonomy and self-determination, Accessibility, Innovation, Justice, Connection, Accountability, Hope and Advocacy. Based on our organizational values, we have developed agency-wide accountability behaviours which are shared with all Oahas staff and are used as part of our performance evaluation tools. These include engaging in the work using direct communication, kindness, generosity of spirit and respect.

Summary

This position plays a crucial role in amplifying self-determination in Indigenous HIV-related research, data collection and analysis, evaluation, and evidence integration. The impacts of this work are expected to include, but not be limited to growth and advancements in areas, such as:

• Determining more effective ways to work with organizations across Ontario that serve Indigenous Peoples as it relates to harm reduction, and HIV and HCV testing, treatment and linkage to care.

• Identifying, synthesizing, and disseminating information and wise practices related to Indigenous STBBI prevention and harm reduction, testing, and linkage to support and care.

• Supporting a greater understanding of the distinctions and needs of Indigenous Peoples and Indigenous communities at the local and regional levels, and interplay with the broader HIV and harm reduction sectors.

• Informing evidence-based, culturally appropriate programs and services that improve self-determined health and wellness outcomes for Indigenous people.

The Provincial Lead is responsible for project management of Oahas research projects including supporting grant and proposal writing for research projects; supporting Oahas to build its capacity related to receiving research funding and leading research projects; writing and reviewing REB protocols for different projects; supporting the integration of Indigenous methods and methodologies into program evaluation design and organizational planning; working in relationship with research teams and building a network of relationships with Indigenous researchers.

Key Responsibilities

Integrated Organizational Capacity Building & Implementation: Research & Evaluation

• Leads the coordination of research and evaluation activities and initiatives across the organization, collaborating with the Director, Programs & Services as well as Middle Management

• Project management of Oahas research, evaluation, and data governance projects

• Assessing and evaluating potential research projects with partners for cultural safety and alignment with Oahas principles for ethical engagement with Indigenous people, and fit regarding community research priorities

• Develop and implement criteria to assess external research requests

• Support data collection, analysis and integrated knowledge mobilization activities

• Lead report writing and records management, as directed

• Lead the development and implementation of research-related organizational policies, procedures, and processes

• Support Oahas staff to increase their knowledge, awareness, and comfort with community-based research and program evaluation methods and projects

• Lead the development and delivery of creative skill-building content that facilitates cross-organizational capacity related to engagement in research and program evaluation

• Develop research and evaluation tools for staff

• Supports in knowledge translation of biomedical and scientific knowledge into accessible resources to increase Oahas staff capacity to engage in community education and conversations, in collaboration with the Executive Director, Director, Programs & Services and the Training & Resource Development Team

• Develop content for research and capacity-building grants and other proposals

• Integrates the sector specific evidence and literature into grant writing processes for new projects/programs

• Co-design and implement evidence-driven, culturally appropriate new programming models related to specific areas of research in collaboration with the Director, Programs & Services

• Integrates the evidence/literature in designing evaluation components for Oahas programs/projects

• Lead integration of Indigenous ways of knowing, being, seeing and doing into all junctures of planning and execution of research, data governance, and evaluation projects at the organization

Knowledge Mobilization: Impacting Outcomes & Influencing Wise Practices

• Engage in research that centers Indigenous practices in data collection and analysis to support Indigenous program and service developments and enhancements

• Identify and develop indicators to monitor and evaluate uptake and integration of evidence for intended
  audiences

• Write position papers, knowledge synthesis briefs, and analytical documents that can be used for funder, government, and policy advocacy

• Lead organizational advocacy efforts to inform health and social service policies (e.g., Indigenous health policy, harm reduction policies etc.)

• Inform and advise provincial conversations regarding Indigenous data governance related to HIV data governance and stewardship
• Explore and utilize evidence-based and culturally-informed practices, interventions, and methodologies that support effective engagement and outcomes with and for Indigenous Peoples

Advancing Partnerships

• Develop partnership opportunities with agencies, groups, committees, and other sources to promote the work of Oahas and reduce the stigma of Indigenous Peoples living with and affected by HIV/AIDS, HCV, STBBIs and substance
  use

• Cultivates and strengthens strategic relationships with external Indigenous researchers and Indigenous organizations

• Fosters research, evaluation and data governance capacity building among other communities, groups and agencies

• Ensure a consistent point of connection and communication with community, research groups and organizations to limit duplicative efforts in sector-specific research areas

• Support the evaluation of projects and initiatives in collaboration with partner organizations (grant applications; project planning; developing evaluation frameworks; tool development; data collection; training staff; making meaning of the data/data analysis monitoring/report writing;
  and meeting with partners)

Specific Accountabilities

Triple Lens Provincial Strategy Development

• Development of a provincial triple lens strategy focusing on mapping services, gaps, and partnerships related to better coordination of Indigenous HIV, HCV and harm reduction services in Ontario

• Coordinate community engagement to support the strategy development

• Work in collaboration with data stewards to gather knowledge (collecting data) from multiple sources (e.g. Office of the Chief Coroner, OHESI, PHO, OCHART, Ontario Cohort Study etc.)

• Conduct a review of the available literature (grey & academic)

• Lead the development and writing of the strategy

OHTN Integration

• Participate in joint planning meetings with OHTN and Oahas to review annual and quarterly work plan deliverables that align with key priorities of Oahas and OHTNs resources and initiatives

• Enhance and reaffirm the existing, long-standing partnership between the Oahas and OHTN by serving as the bridge position and partner lead and by identifying key Elders/Knowledge Carriers who will guide this process

• Represents Oahas in an advisory role regarding Indigenous data governance and how this is coordinated/managed at OHTN (e.g. involved in the evaluation of project applications received by OHTN and that may involve Indigenous people, and/or with a focus on Northern Ontario)

Indigenous Provincial Advisory & Guidance Coordination

• Develops and supports the ongoing function of an Indigenous provincial advisory body, that is comprised of urban Indigenous organization, such as service providers from regions Oahas serves, IPHAs and relevant service recipients, and Political
  Territorial Organizations (PTOs)

• The purpose of the advisory body is to provide guidance and direction on understanding HIV and other STBBI data, as it relates to analysis, dissemination, culturally relevant knowledge translation and mobilization efforts

Qualifications

• Experience centering Indigenous research methods and methodologies. Formal education or credentials in research and evaluation methodologies are an asset

• Experience working with harm reduction practices, philosophies and principles using an Indigenous lens

• Experience in working with people who are living with and/or affected by HIV/AIDS, HCV, STBBIs and those who use substances and engage in sex and/or sex work in a compassionate and non-judgmental manner. Familiarity with GIPA/MEPA Principles. Familiarity with sexual health education discourse as it relates to STBBI prevention is an asset.

• Knowledge gathering (data collection), meaning-making (data analysis), and inclusion of language that centers Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing to support research and evaluation

• Working on a team and using an integrated approach to share knowledge meaningfully with the community during the research process

• A comprehensive understanding of the social determinants of health related to First Nations, Mtis and Inuit

• Demonstrated success in developing effective reciprocal and generative relationships with Indigenous Peoples and communities in multiple contexts (e.g., urban, rural, with First Nations on-reserve, Indigenous researchers and organizations, and ASO organizations)

• Competency in Indigenous data governance and data sovereignty discourse (e.g., OCAP principles, CARE Principles, Principles of Ethical Metis Research, and National Inuit Strategy on Research, and other Indigenous data governance training)

• Comfort
  and experience with understanding and integrating descriptive statistics into the meaning-making process (data analysis)

Skills

• Strong written and verbal communication skills in English

• Openness and self-awareness

• Strong analytical thinking & reasoning

• Ability to self-motivate, independent self-starter

• Communication and knowledge translation with multiple audiences

• Microsoft 365 applications, REDCap, Survey Monkey, and similar data collection tools, experience with OCASE/OCHART, and NEO are considered an asset

Additional Expectations

• Flexibility with schedule and ability to work evenings and weekends on occasion

• Responsible for other assigned duties as required

• Share in the responsibility and care for Oahas traditional medicines and bundle items

• Required travel across the province to support project coordination and implementation at Oahas program sites, as well as community engagements

Oahas is committed to equitable representation and access. We strive to build an inclusive workforce that reflects the rich diversity of the communities in which we live. To this end, we strongly encourage applications from Indigenous people and people with living/lived experience with drug use, sex work, houselessness, street involvement, those living/diagnosed with HIV or HCV, members of 2SLGBTQ+ communities, and persons with (dis)abilities.